William Heise County Park

What a wonderful surprise William Heise campground was!! Located in San Diego county, California, it is nestled in the forest at the 4000 ft level. All the campsites were clean and so well thought out that, even though you had neighbors, they were far enough away to allow for some quiet solitude.

Some campsites are for dry camping and some RV sites have limited hook ups such, water and electricity only. \The pads as asphalt and there is shade in abundance!! There are beautifully clean showers and bathrooms as well as a dump station. The staff was super friendly!! When we arrived there was a note that said "if you've made reservations on - line, go ahead to your campsite" as there was no ranger at the gate during the weekdays. There are deer, wild turkeys, many birds and squirrels to enjoy. It's a super quiet place and has many trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding.

The mining town of Julian, CA is just a short drive away where you can enjoy some great food and education about the California gold rush.

I stayed here for a night in May in a tent site. All sites have a fire pit, picnic table and water spigot. Very clean, well maintained & friendly staff. The trails in the area are also good, though not very long. Easy to hike all the trails in a day or two. One minor drawback is the showers, coin operated which is no big deal but the water comes at you like a Luke warm hose. Wouldn’t take a shower unless you have too. I want to come back for some group camping, kids are everywhere here playing which is nice to see.

We’ve been coming here often since we purchased our camper 10 years ago. Spaces 1 - 38 have power and water at the individual sites. All RV spaces are paved and tent spaces have paved vehicle parking. Bathrooms are clean. Dump is easy to access. We regularly see deer and wild turkeys within the campground. Rangers are all super friendly. They sell wood bundles for $5 out of a shed at the entry kiosk and it is an honor pay system during the week when it is slower. The historic town of Julian is a scenic 5 mile drive away and has several things to do. The park is very busy during the summer months, especially on weekends when it is often full. Reservations recommended in summer. $5 reservation fee online. Excellent park!

This park is absolutely lovely. Rolling hills and meandering roads make it seem very remote, but it is only 5 miles from Julian. The campsites are very spacious are paved and have picnic tables, and fire rings. Very well maintained. Bathrooms/showers were clean and heated. There is an excellent hike up to a ridge where you can see both the ocean and the Salton Sea.

what a great campground. Plenty of space at each site, new electric and water in the loop we were in (not on the map, but listed when making reservations) lots of hiking trails, we did 2 of the shorter ones (we had 10 kids between 3 site). The only recommendation I'd make is shade over the playground. Town of Julian is close enough for lunch, but we aren't IN town.

First the bad: Some of the sites in the 1-20 loop are very close together, like barely enough room for your slides to open. We were in site 6 which was like this. It was just a parking area with lines painted on it and connections at the rear. Our slides on one side were at the line while on the other side you wouldn't have enough room for an awning. This would be great for group camping where you can park door to door. Site 6 was also very unlevel. With our back wheels completely off of the ground, we were still unlevel.

We decided to go with it because the reservation site showed no other campers next to us all week. Plus, it's just a week, so why complain? Once we plugged into the power, our Surge Guard said "open ground" and wouldn't give us power. I spoke with a ranger who said that they've seen this before and offered to put us in site 27, their "spare site". This turned out to be a good thing for us but I was concerned for the next folks to get to site 6 if there is a power problem.

Now the good: After getting into site 27, we we beyond happy with this park. It's extremely clean and the rangers make regular rounds to ensure everything is okay. They're all super nice. The sites in this loop are spaced well apart and have some natural separation with trees and bushes.

The bathhouses are clean and have super hot water. Almost too hot. There are the typical shared bathrooms with showers and then there are two on the side of the building that are private, with heaters (it was cold when we were here, so this was a big bonus!). The showers are the pay type, 50 cents for 4 minutes, but have good pressure and are reasonable. No complaints here.

There is a dump station near the bathhouse but it kind of blocks the exit road to the bathhouse and it's a bit on an incline and in a turn. Weird. We're 31 feet long but shorter rigs may not have a problem with it. It works so nothing to gripe about.

This parks selling point is it's location. It is about 10 minutes from the town of Julian, which is an old gold town turned tourist site. There are a ton of tourist type shops and things to see. Try the apple pie at Mom's. You'll be glad you did.

If you like wilderness, you'll love William Heise park. We saw deer, turkeys, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, and probably some others that I'm forgetting. They're everywhere and are fun to watch! It's super quiet at night and extremely secure. It gets busy on the weekend but everyone we met was super nice and enjoying the peace.

Stock up on groceries and fuel before you go. The grocery market in town is expensive and the one service station looks like it would be hard to get in and out of with anything other than a regular car or truck. The highway getting there is very crooked and has length restrictions. At 31 feet plus a Jeep, we had no trouble. Just take your time, use the pull outs to let others pass, and enjoy the scenery. The road from Julian to the park is crooked and tight at places but even bigger rigs made it fine. On this road, there is a sign that says the park is straight ahead but Google Maps says to turn left. We turned left. Don't turn left. Go straight. Either way will get you there but the left road gets very tight and steep.

Cell service was great in the park for AT&T. Without a booster, I regularly got 30 megs down and about the same up. T-Mobile worked but was slow (2 megs down and .5 up) even with a full signal.

All in all, we'll definitely be back if we're in the area again.

William Heise County Park is a gem just outside the popular town of Julian. Less than two hours from San Diego, Heise Park feels like world's away. The 900+ acre park is situated among pines and oaks in the Laguna Mountain Range.

This campground has all the bells and whistles--full hook-ups for those who need them, bathrooms, showers, fire grills, picnic tables, a day-use area, trash and recycling receptacles--and potable water. There are two basic cabins, a group tent camping area, and a small playground, near the cabins but at a distance from most of the sites, for kids. Dogs are allowed and are $1 extra.

Most sites are a mix of sun and shade--all are pretty large.

I'm a fairly minimalist camper, so there were more amenities here than I needed, but it's such a lovely place it was worth it. In the loop where I camped, there was no one else around (the big RV, full hook-ups section was pretty full).

Visitors to my site included 6 or 7 wild turkeys, 6 deer, and numerous bunnies, squirrels, etc. Be aware: there are rattlesnakes here.